Does anyone know if there is a data set parameter in Solarman for how much excess energy the panels/inverter is generating i.e. The energy that is not used for charging batteries (when they are full) or powering my house and is lost? 

Would like to be able to work out if my iverter is generating enough power to charge another battery or if I need to get more panels first. 

4 hours ago, Sc00bs said:

Does anyone know if there is a data set parameter in Solarman for how much excess energy the panels/inverter is generating i.e. The energy that is not used for charging batteries (when they are full) or powering my house and is lost? 

Would like to be able to work out if my iverter is generating enough power to charge another battery or if I need to get more panels first. 

I don't think any inverter offers something like that. 

Only thing I've seen is where a very small panel is connected and then extrapolating the data for the size of the main solar array. 

You looking for something that can measure current solar irradiation to compare if your pv array has any spare capacity that's going to waste. 

I suppose you could look at your PV generated graph to see where there are gaps (i.e. when you use less/little, the PV generation will drop). 

If there are large gaps, like mine below, you could add another battery.

But be mindful that on cloudy days it will take longer to fully charge the batteries:

Blue = Production

Red = Consumption

Edited April 1, 20215 yr by branderplank

The easiest way to see if you could squeeze more power out of the panels is to monitor the production graph. If the batteries are full or close to full the charge will stop or slow down. It is very obvious on the production consumption graph, when solar production falls down and tracks consumption, thats when the batteries are full or close to full. If you're consistently full at lets say 10h00 in the morning, you have a ton of spare solar capacity. However, if your batteries only reach 100% late in the afternoon, for example 15h30, then you probably can't add another battery to your system until you've expanded the solar.

 

Alternatively, monitoring the SOC you can see when you're topped up and if you have spare capacity.

Exactly what branderplank posted. His batteries seem to be full at around 11h00? So there is probably plenty of room to handle more storage.

With mine you can see the battery reached full SOC at some time after 15h00. I don't have enough solar for more batteries. In fact, I'm a little bit short for what I have, so the array needs to grow before I can add anything more to storage.

 

I can just make it through the night while keeping a bit of battery in reserve for load shedding on bad solar days, but yes, I need more panels, and then one more battery then the system will be where I want it to be.

 

Ultimately, we all want unlimited power! And I have the space for the panels, so I see more in my future.

 

 

Thanks Guys, 

 

So that answers my question, no direct measurement of the power not used but you can make assumptions based on when you stopped charging etc. 

 

Here's my SOC vs DC Power graph so looks like I need some more batteries 

 

At this stage Eskom ( according to my calculations) is cheaper than batteries, 

Agreed Tariq, doesn't make sense to install R60k worth of batteries to save myself R600 a month's worth of electricity, better to just run of Eskom when my batteries are flat.

My main focus at this point in time is making sure that I am not powering things like geysers and my borehole using battery power. Unfortunately my electrical system system does not allow me to have a split split supply so I have been linking up my inverter to Home Assistant and will be using HA to power off my high loads when their is a shortage of power. 

Is there a setting that you have to set that shows the SOC on the Solarman app? I can see the SOC under Device\Inverter\Battery, but it isn't showing on the graphs or usage flow.

Edited August 26, 20214 yr by Dawid van Heerden

@Dawid van Heerden You have to select the variable that you want to display in solarman, it only show a few as default

10 hours ago, Sc00bs said:

@Dawid van Heerden You have to select the variable that you want to display in solarman, it only show a few as default

Thank you so much, I assumed so. Where can I do this though, I have been through the app a thousand times but can't seem to find it.

@JoJoDave 

is also in the Device menu option for your inverter

 

 

1 hour ago, Sc00bs said:

is also in the Device menu option for your inverter

 

 

Thank you, much appreciated, but which interface are you using, the web browser (if so, what URL?) or mobile app (if so which one?)?

I am trying SolarMAN02.0 on apple and https://home.solarman.cn/ on browser but my screen is looking different to yours which makes me think I am missing something.

I found remaining battery capacity under the device settings online, but I am still not able to see if on the app flow chart or line chart.

 

 

 

Other pictures I have seen displays battery SOC on the flow chart and line chart on the mobile app. (examples below, which is what I am unable to find)

 

 

 

 

 

 

https://home.solarmanpv.com/

On 2021/08/28 at 11:01 AM, Sc00bs said:

https://home.solarmanpv.com/

Thank you so much, will check it out.

I have only loaded the solarman software and am also keen to try the solarmanpv software.  Can you run both concurrently, or do you need to "unlink" the one first?

Try and see what happens, I think they both get their data from the same server

17 hours ago, Sc00bs said:

Try and see what happens, I think they both get their data from the same server

Thanks Sc00bs - it does appear to work.  I missed the point that these apps all appear to be different versions designed by the same company.

The new app coming from Sunsynk has it's own servers, they are going to however require a new dongle to work. 

Not sure if the data is going to be more up to date but I hope so as there is about a 15min lag on the current solarman data

I got this message on the Solarman app, Is anyone else also getting this message?

Yes, received the same.

Can someone please explain me, what is the difference between Solarman Smart and Solarman Pro? Can the same logger send info to both apps?

 

13 hours ago, PowerUser said:

Can someone please explain me, what is the difference between Solarman Smart and Solarman Pro? Can the same logger send info to both apps?

 

As far as I understand it, Solarman Smart is the user app where you don't have access to the backend stuff like Wi-Fi setup etc. Solarman Pro is for the installers app where they have access to more setup functionality.

MdF